The candidates are Ernest Everett,City Council President Rodney Wiltshire, the Working Families Party candidate, and Patrick Madden, who are facing off in the Sept. 10 Democratic primary; Councilman Jim Gordon, Republican-Conservative-Independence candidate; and Jack Cox Jr., who is collecting signatures for a run on The Revolutionary Party Line.

John Fitzpatrick, who moderates the Troy Reddit Community, provided the questions and answers. He said the questions were posed by members of the community.

]]>http://blog.timesunion.com/troy/troy-mayoral-candidates-respond-to-troy-reddit-community-questions/2148/feed/0Hearings scheduled on proposed Troy charter revisionshttp://blog.timesunion.com/troy/hearings-scheduled-on-proposed-troy-charter-revisions/2146/
http://blog.timesunion.com/troy/hearings-scheduled-on-proposed-troy-charter-revisions/2146/#commentsFri, 31 Jul 2015 03:03:58 +0000http://blog.timesunion.com/troy/?p=2146The City Council’s Law Committee and the Troy Charter Review Commission will each meet on the proposed revisions to the city charter.

Councilman Jim Gordon, who chairs the Law Committee, has called a committee meeting for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday Aug. 5.

“The purpose of this meeting will be to invite representatives of the charter review commission to present the changes; affording council members and members of the public insight into the manner and reasoning by which the commission arrived at their changes and the impact both operationally and budgetary they present,” the Law Committee meeting announcement states.

The Charter Review Commission meets at 6 p.m. Monday Aug. 10.

“PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that a Meeting of the City of Troy Charter Review Commission shall be convened at Troy City Hall, 433 River Street, Suite 5001 on, Monday August 10th, 2015 at 6:00pm for public comment on the proposed charter,” according to the meeting announcement.

“Her appointment underscores our desire to see RCHS grow in strength and engarment with our region,” Laudelina Martinez, president, RCHS Board of Trustee, said in a statement Wednesday.

Krasevac-Lenz has experience in the non-profit field doing fund raising and working with historical organizations.

Krasevac-Lenz lives in Troy with her family. She is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College.

]]>http://blog.timesunion.com/troy/rensselaer-county-historical-society-appoints-executive-director/2144/feed/0Independent mayoral candidate in Troy reaches petition milestonehttp://blog.timesunion.com/troy/independent-mayoral-candidate-in-troy-reaches-petition-milestone/2141/
http://blog.timesunion.com/troy/independent-mayoral-candidate-in-troy-reaches-petition-milestone/2141/#commentsWed, 29 Jul 2015 01:58:26 +0000http://blog.timesunion.com/troy/?p=2141Jack Cox Jr. was in a good mood Wednesday. He had reached 437 signatures on his Revolutionary Party nominating petitions to run for mayor. That’s the minimum number he needs to get on the Nov. 3 ballot.

“I’m loving it,” said Cox, who’s been getting each signature on his own. In fact, he said, he checked to see how many signatures were collected by the rest of the mayoral field on their own. He said it’s 199 by Ernest Everett, a Democrat; 80 by City Council President Rodney Wiltshire, a Democrat; 49 by Councilman Jim Gordon, a Republican; and 0 by Patrick Madden, an unaffiliate voter backed by the city Democratic Committee.

Everett, Wiltshire and Madden are headed to a Set. 10 Democratic primary. Everett faces a court challenge to his petition signatures that if successful would remove him from the ballot. Wiltshire has the Working Families Party line.

Cox said he planning to get more signatures to stave off a challenge. He was knocked of the 2011 mayoral ballot by challenges from Republican candidate Carmella Mantello.

]]>http://blog.timesunion.com/troy/independent-mayoral-candidate-in-troy-reaches-petition-milestone/2141/feed/0Troy Charter Review Commission issues summary of charter revisionshttp://blog.timesunion.com/troy/troy-charter-review-commission-issues-summary-of-charter-revisions/2139/
http://blog.timesunion.com/troy/troy-charter-review-commission-issues-summary-of-charter-revisions/2139/#commentsWed, 29 Jul 2015 01:50:20 +0000http://blog.timesunion.com/troy/?p=2139The Troy Charter Review Commission has issued an executive summary of the changes it has proposed to the city charter. The summary touches on the main changes to the charter, which establishes how the city is governed.

The commission will hold a public hearing for comment at 6 p.m. Aug. 10 at City Hall. The commissioners will consider the comments before adopting a final proposed charter to present to city voters on the Nov. 3 ballot.

Here’s the executive summary:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE PROPOSED REVISIONS TO
THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF TROY
July 27, 2015
INTRODUCTION
The Troy Charter Review Commission, which earlier this year was tasked
with updating and improving the document that defines the form and
function of the City of Troy, New York, has delivered a semifinal draft of
the new document that will go before the city’s voters in November of this
year.
The Commission is a nine-member, nonpartisan appointed panel of citizens
working without financial compensation.
The entire document the Commission is proposing is available to the public
via the city website (troyny.gov) — under “Bulletins” — as is the current
version of the Charter. The draft document will be finalized by the
Commission after a sixth and final public hearing, scheduled for 6 p.m.
Monday, August 10, at City Hall, then sent to the Board of Elections for
inclusion on the November 2015 ballot.
The draft document eliminates pages of outdated or redundant material, has
been reformatted to take into account all proposed changes and improve
readability, has been made gender neutral, and continues a number of
changes, as listed below. However, these are not all the changes being
recommended. The public is urged to review the document and send any
suggestions to the Commission, care of the City’s Corporation Counsel Ian
Silverman, Troy City Hall, 433 River Street, Troy NY 12180, by August 10.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The proposed changes to the Troy City Charter include:
• Reduction of the City Council to seven (7) members from the present nine
(9). This would have no effect on the six (6) district seats. This would be
accomplished by eliminating two of the three current at-large seats before
the November 2019 election. The remaining seat would be a directly elected
President of the Council, serving a four-year-term. Each district seat would
continue to have a two-year term. The maximum number of consecutive
years of service for all Council members would remain at eight (8). The
change is meant to reflect the smaller population of the City compared to
when the Council was increased to nine (9) seats, and save the taxpayers at
least $30,000 in salaries annually. Voters would be given the opportunity to
directly elect a President of the Council, rather than continuing the present
practice of having the highest vote-getter among those running for three atlarge
seats become President. A four-year term would recognize the
difficulties of running on a citywide basis every 24 months, which the
Commission believes to be an onerous one compared to having to run only
in a district. The delay until 2019 would allow the election for President of
the Council to be put on the same cycle as the election for Mayor.
• The City Council would be required to appoint an unpaid Independent
Redistricting Commission of seven (7) members to examine federallysupplied
census information drawn from each 10-year census to ascertain
that the population of each of the City’s six (6) electoral districts complies
with proper distribution percentages. If the Commission determines there is
noncompliance, it then will create a proposal to modify district boundaries to
come into compliance, which then would be voted upon by the City Council.
No more than four (4) members of the Commission would be registered
members of the same political party. The purpose of this change is to take
the mechanics of redistricting out of the hands of the Council in hopes of
eliminating gerrymandering or other politically motivated actions, while
maintaining the Council’s responsibility to voters of the City as a whole.
• The budgeting cycle would be advanced one full month at each step in the
process to avoid last-minute confusion and contention as have been
experienced in recent years.
• The Department of Public Works would be reorganized into the
Department of General Services, and the Office of Parks and Recreation
would come under its supervision and control.
• A list of terms used within the Charter would be created as the opening
section of a new Charter to avoid conflicting interpretations.
• Qualifications would be updated and/or enumerated for a variety of
professional positions to assure the hiring of the best possible candidates for
employment.
• Provisions would be made throughout the Charter to improve public access
to information through wider dissemination of notices, documents and such
other items as might occur.
• Roughly a third of the current Charter’s provisions have been eliminated to
reduce duplication and redundancy. In other instances, when a provision
mirrors state law, the new Charter would refer to the applicable law rather
than retain the current practice of including overly wordy recitations of the
particulars. Examples can be found in references to the duties and operation
of courts in the City, and the operation of the Municipal Civil Service
Commission.
—–

]]>http://blog.timesunion.com/troy/troy-charter-review-commission-issues-summary-of-charter-revisions/2139/feed/0Troy fights heat with longer pool hourshttp://blog.timesunion.com/troy/troy-fights-heat-with-longer-pool-hours/2137/
http://blog.timesunion.com/troy/troy-fights-heat-with-longer-pool-hours/2137/#commentsWed, 29 Jul 2015 01:39:59 +0000http://blog.timesunion.com/troy/?p=2137Mayor Lou Rosamilia announced that the city is extending its pool hours Wednesday to help residents coll off in the 90-degree-plus temperatures predicted.

Here’s the word from City Hall —

City officials have announced extended hours for the City’s pools for both Wednesday, July 29 and Thursday, July 30 in anticipation of higher temperatures. Open swim will begin 1p.m. and will be extended until 8p.m. at both the Knickerbacker and South Troy pools. Adult swim and parent & child swim will be postponed at the Knickerbacker pool to accommodate the additional open swim hours.

The five spray pools located at Knickerbacker, Corliss Park, Frear Park, Prospect Park and Riverfront Park will also be open.

For additional information, please contact the City of Troy’s Bureau of Parks & Recreation at (518) 235-7761 or (518) 235-0215.

]]>http://blog.timesunion.com/troy/troy-fights-heat-with-longer-pool-hours/2137/feed/0Monument Square project caught in Troy election year moveshttp://blog.timesunion.com/troy/monument-square-project-caught-in-troy-election-year-moves/2135/
http://blog.timesunion.com/troy/monument-square-project-caught-in-troy-election-year-moves/2135/#commentsMon, 27 Jul 2015 22:08:39 +0000http://blog.timesunion.com/troy/?p=2135The proposed redevelopment of 1 Monument Square has been sucked into the whirlpool of Troy election-year politics. The plans presented by Kirchhoff Companies and Sequence Development to build a mixed-use building on the site of the now demolished City Hall are changing and are ever scrutinized by the public.

Business owners, architects and residents have started to say no development may be better than the development proposed. Kirchhoff representatives have said they’ve met with critics and are working with the city to develop the site that will reflect Troy’s spirit and architecture.

Carmella Mantello, a Republican candidate for an at-large seat on the City Council, called on Mayor Lou Rosamilia’s administration to seek new development proposals. The city is six months into a two-year contract with the developers to get the project going. The Planning Commission currently has the proposal under review. The developers and city staff are to meet to discuss the project and modifications to the design.

Here’s what Mantello had to say in a press statement issued Monday:

Carmella Mantello, Troy City Council At-Large candidate, today called upon the City of Troy to re-open the bid process on One Monument Square.

Mantello stated, “One Monument Square has been vacant since late 2011 and currently continues to be off the property tax rolls. In 2013, Kirchoff Companies and its partner put forward a proposal to build a project on the site. The original proposal was for two buildings with an estimated cost of $25 to $27 million. The Kirchoff Companies recently submitted a change in its plans reducing the scope of the project to one building and other substantial changes, such as a wood frame, closing part of Front Street, and a reduction in the project cost to $20 – $23 million.

Mantello added, “There’s been a great deal of concern expressed by the public regarding the proposed changes, and Kirchoff Companies is once again trying to redesign the nature and scope of the project. There is no definitive date as to when the new design will be submitted to the city and when work will actually start on the project.”

“It only makes sense to advertise a new Request for Proposals (RFP) for the project so the City of Troy is not stuck with a failed project six months from now,” Mantello continued. “My proposal will allow the original proposer to continue working on a redesign while the City at the same time, on a parallel basis, could request new proposals be submitted.”

Mantello also noted that the developer after all this time has not closed on the property and the city has a revenue projection in the 2015 budget of receiving approximately $600,000 from the Kirchoff Companies project.

Mantello concluded, “This is one of the most important economic development projects in downtown Troy, and the city must make sure that they are not left with a virtual hole in the ground over the next four years.”

The commission has been holding a series of meetings and hearings this year with the goal of finishing its work in time to get the charter revisions on the November ballot.

A few of the highlights in the draft charter include: Shrinking the size of the City Council to seven members from nine members; The City Council president would be the only council member elected at-large; As of the 2019 election, the City Council president would be elected for four years; Maintaining term limits; Changing the schedule for adoption of the city budget; Creating a Department of General Services, which will include Public Works and Parks and Recreation.

The document is posted on the city website troyny.gov under the Bulletins section. Look for the link Troy City Charter Revisions — Draft 1

]]>http://blog.timesunion.com/troy/troy-charter-revisions-semifinal-draft-released/2131/feed/1Troy Fire Department adds two new ambulanceshttp://blog.timesunion.com/troy/troy-fire-department-adds-two-new-ambulances/2129/
http://blog.timesunion.com/troy/troy-fire-department-adds-two-new-ambulances/2129/#commentsMon, 27 Jul 2015 14:17:40 +0000http://blog.timesunion.com/troy/?p=2129The Troy Fire Department is showing off its two new ambulances Monday. The vehicles will be based at the Central Fire House on Sixth Avenue and at the firehouse in Lansingburgh.

The city said this about the ambulances:

The Troy Fire Department’s three ambulances are some of the busiest vehicles in the City of Troy. On average, the department responds to 9,000 calls each year; approximately 6,000 of those calls are EMS related. These emergency vehicles are utilized heavily by the department in responding to medical emergencies across the city. The older front line ambulances that are being replaced have transported approximately 30,000 patients during the duration of their service.

The two new ambulances are stationed at Troy Fire Department Headquarters, located at 2175 6th Avenue, and Station #1, located at 115th and 5th Avenue in Lansingburgh.

-30-

]]>http://blog.timesunion.com/troy/troy-fire-department-adds-two-new-ambulances/2129/feed/0St. Augustine’s School in Troy seeks new principalhttp://blog.timesunion.com/troy/st-augustines-school-in-troy-seeks-new-principal/2127/
http://blog.timesunion.com/troy/st-augustines-school-in-troy-seeks-new-principal/2127/#commentsMon, 27 Jul 2015 14:11:58 +0000http://blog.timesunion.com/troy/?p=2127After avoiding closure, St. Augustine’s School is seeking a new principal to fill the post that became vacant at the end of the school year.

The school and parish have long been considered a cornerstone in the Lansingburgh community.

Here is the ad which appeared in the Sunday Times Union:

PRINCIPAL OPENING
St.​ Augustine’s School, serving students from Nursery to grade 6 in Troy, NY, is seeking extraordinary candidates for the position of principal who has a demonstrated track record of growth and innovation in a school or program setting.​ The successful candidate must have strong leadership and administrative skills (including school finance) to envision a bright future for the school while carrying out the tradition of academic excellence and faith formation.​ A successful candidate will be a practicing Catholic with a Masters degree, administrative certification and a minimum of five years of teaching experience, preferably in Catholic schools.​

Send letter of interest and resume by August 15, 2015 to: Susan Bradshaw, Director of Personnel Services, Catholic Schools Office, 40 North Main Avenue, Albany, NY 12203 or by email to susan.​bradshaw@​rcda.​org